Computer data centers are facilities that contain racks or shelves of computer systems and their associated components such as power supplies and telecommunications systems. Large data centers house hundreds, often thousands, of separate computers, which are connected for communications with computers in the data center and with telecommunication networks such as the Internet, thereby forming the essential infrastructure of “cloud computing.” The racks of computers often extend from floor to ceiling, mounted atop hollow flooring structures called plenums that route cooling air to the various racks, with heat removal vents positioned above the racks. A facility housing thousands of computers uses many kilowatts of electricity and generates large amounts of heat that must be removed so that the computers can operate within their specified ranges of operating temperatures.
Space, cooling, power cabling, and communications cabling requirements are therefore critical for modern data centers. Floor space in terms of square feet footprint per rack and height requirements for each rack of computers are limited, so as to provide required cooling air and power requirements, as well as security within physical cages and accessibility for configuration and maintenance.
One particular type of computer that is popular for certain computing applications is the APPLE® Mac Mini (marketed as “Mac mini”), manufactured by Apple, Inc., Cupertino, Calif. The Mac mini is considered a small form factor self-contained desktop computer but does not include a display, keyboard, or mouse. Although the Mac mini computer is not typically considered to be a data center type computer device, it possesses certain features that make it desirable for deployment in data centers.
For example, the Mac mini computer's processor and associated internal peripheral circuitry make it highly suitable for hosting development environments for the APPLE® computing infrastructure and environment, which is built around the OS X operating system for enterprise and personal computing, and the iOS operating system for mobile devices from Apple, Inc. such as the iPhone and iPad. Other conventional types of computer systems, because they lack the unique circuitry and components of the Apple computing environment, are not readily capable of running OS X or certain iOS development platforms. Thus, the Mac mini computer is highly capable of serving data center needs for conventional data center computing requirements, as well as specialized service to the OS X and iOS development communities.
In contrast, however, the parallelepiped form of the Mac mini computer is not readily suitable for deployment in data centers. The Mac mini computer is manufactured in a small parallelepiped form that contains comparatively large top and bottom panels and comparatively thin lateral sides with rounded edges. Further, the Mac mini computer is manufactured with controls and communication and power ports for the Mac mini computer only on one lateral side. Finally, the Mac mini computer is manufactured with one small fan positioned within its interior that draws air up through the bottom of the Mac mini computer and out the lateral side of the Mac mini computer that contains the controls and ports.
As a result of increasing demand by the OS X and iOS developers' community, there is a need for a data center that can efficiently house computer systems that can provide OS X-compatible hosting environments, as well as other cloud-based computing requirements. The present disclosure relates to a highly space and thermal-efficient data center computer rack mounting arrangement that provides for maximized usage of small form factor self-contained computers such as Mac mini computers.